Spartans Win a Wild One, 20-13

Saturday, March 19

Bloomington, IN

10:00 AM

Bowling Green State University

11-14

Michigan State

14-10

Michigan State

Bowling Green

Molly Holliday - April 17 2015 v Ohio - Kia Tyus photo

Molly Holliday had 4 hits in Saturday's Michigan State game

March 19, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

BGSU overcomes a 7-run deficit, only to see MSU explode for 9 runs in the 10th

By: BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

It was a game that almost defied description. But, the simplest description would be this: Michigan State University defeated the Bowling Green State University softball team, 20-13 in 10 innings, Sunday afternoon (March 19). The non-conference contest, part of the Hoosier Classic, was held at Andy Mohr Field.

At one point in the contest, BGSU was trailing by a 7-0 score, and the Falcons were being no-hit. In fact, BG was down by a 9-3 count in the sixth inning, before scoring four times in the bottom of the inning and two more times in the seventh to force extra innings.

BGSU-MSU STATISTICS: HTML | PDF

With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, each team scored a run in both the eighth and ninth innings, before the Spartans exploded for nine runs in the 10th. The Falcons got two runs in the bottom of the frame, but it was not enough as MSU closed out the victory.

Saturday's game marked only the third time in program history that the Falcons had allowed as many as 20 runs in a game. BGSU's total of 13 runs was the program's most in a loss in school history, and the two-team total of 33 runs also set a school record.

Senior Molly Holliday had four hits to pace BGSU's 14-hit attack. Holliday was 4-for-5 with two runs scored in the game. Junior Haley Schrock went 3-for-6, while senior Marisa Shook, sophomore Kayla Gregory and freshman Hannah Giammarino each had two hits.

Shook scored a run and drove in three, while Giammarino scored three times vs. the Spartans. The top three players in the BG lineup – junior Aspen Searle, sophomore Katee Hinkle and redshirt soph Chelsea Raker – each scored twice, and Searle had two RBI.

However, the top-three Spartans in the batting order combined to score 11 runs, as Lea Foerster and Ebonee Echols each crossed the plate four times and Celeste Wood three.

MSU took a 7-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, another in the third and a four-run fourth frame. A pinch-hit, bases-loaded double by Jacquie Reiser scored three teammates for that seven-run advantage.

Meanwhile, Spartan starting pitcher Kristina Zalewski did not allow a hit until Schrock singled with one out in the bottom of the fourth. That hit put two runners on base, as Raker had walked, but Zalewski retired the next two batters to end the inning.

In the fifth, however, the Falcons got on the board. Giammarino led off with a bunt single, and she went to third on Holliday's single. Searle walked to load the bases, but an out on the basepaths was followed by a grounder for the second out. The Spartans, with BG runners at second and third, elected to intentionally walk Raker, and Shook made them pay with a two-run single that plated Holliday and Searle. Then, Schrock followed with a base hit, and Raker came around to score on an error. The Falcons trailed by a 7-3 count.

In the sixth, however, the Spartans scored twice to go ahead by six. An Echols single was followed by a double off the bat of Wood, and Shanin Thomas singled to score both runners.

But, in the bottom of the sixth, the Falcons battled back again. With one out, Giammarino walked, and Holliday followed with a bunt single. Searle was hit by a Zalewski pitch to load the bases, and the Spartans went to the bullpen. Valerie Kaff entered the game, but she walked Hinkle to force a run home, and Raker's sacrifice fly scored Holliday from third, with Searle also scoring on the play due to an MSU error. A Shook grounder resulted in another error, bringing Hinkle home to cut the MSU advantage to 9-7.

Freshman Brooke Parker worked a one-two-three seventh inning, and the Falcons had one last chance to extend the game. Gregory singled with one out, and MSU made another pitching change. Dani Goranson got the second out on an infield popup, and the Falcons were down to their last out.

But, Giammarino doubled to score Gregory, and on the next pitch, Holliday beat out an infield grounder for a hit, with Giammarino taking third. The next batter, Searle, fell behind in the count, 0-2, but worked it back to 3-2 before lining a single to center that scored Giammarino with the tying run. Goranson got the third out, but the Falcons had new life.

Foerster was placed on second to begin the eighth, and after Echols bunted her to third, she scored on a single by Jordan Davis. In the BG half of the eighth, the first two batters were retired, and the Falcons again were down to their last out. An infield error, however, allowed Hinkle to score.

The Falcons threatened to win the game in that eighth inning, as Gregory singled, and another error allowed sophomore Morgan Evangelista to reach, loading the bases. But, a ground ball resulted in Gregory being forced at third.

In the ninth, after two Spartan batters were retired, Lexi White's double scored McKenzie Long to make it an 11-10 game. But, Holliday singled to begin the bottom of the inning, sending Giammarino to third, and the freshman scored on Searle's sac fly.

In the 10th, however, the MSU offense exploded. After a walk, the Spartans got five-straight singles, another walk, and a grand slam off the bat of White. Junior Briana Combs, the Falcons' original starting pitcher and the first of four different BG hurlers to appear in the game, returned to the circle and got three-straight outs, but the damage had been done.

In the bottom of the inning, Shook's single up the middle scored Raker, and a Schrock single put two runners aboard. A ground ball moved the runners along, and Evangelista's groundout scored Shook, but Giammarino's liner was caught for the game's final out.

The Spartans pounded out 19 hits, overcoming six MSU errors in the field. Goranson, the third pitcher of the day for the Green and White, got the win despite allowing five runs (two earned) and seven hits in two-and-two-thirds innings of work.

Parker took the loss for the Falcons, but her final stat line was slightly misleading. She retired the Spartans in order in two of her first three innings, and allowed four hits in her first four innings before that fateful 10th.

Due to inclement weather in the Bloomington area on Saturday morning, the day's schedule was altered, and the Falcons' game with UIC was cancelled. BGSU now returns to Northwest Ohio for five games next week, beginning with a Wednesday (March 23) doubleheader vs. IPFW. First pitch of game one is scheduled for just past 3:00 p.m. at Meserve Field, and admission is free.